California’s New Law Will Make Operating Systems Ask for Your Age at Account Setup

Lawmakers argue the rule could make the web safer for children, while privacy advocates warn that OS-level age flags normalize user-level tracking.

California has passed a new law requiring every operating system (OS)—Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux distributions, and even SteamOS—to implement age verification during account setup.

The Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), which Governor Gavin Newsom signed in 2025, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027. The law targets how systems classify users by age and then give that information to apps that run on those systems, Tom's Hardware reports.

Under this law, operating systems must ask for a date of birth or age when someone creates an account on a device. The system then stores that information and assigns the user to one of four age brackets:

• under 13,

• 13 to under 16,

• 16 to under 18, or

• 18 and older.

Australia and the ...